6 Crazy Ways Studios Have Accidentally Spoiled Their Own Movies

Everything about Marvel typically runs like a well-oiled machine. For the past decade or so, the company has churned out hit after hit and enjoyable film after enjoyable film, mirroring the early run of fellow Disney subsidiary Pixar. Yesterday, however, the studio may have made a horrific blunder when it released an overly honest soundtrack listing. If so, the rookie mistake revealed a major plot point in Captain America: The Winter Soldier months ahead of its release date.

It’s not the type of screw-up any of us would have expected from Marvel, but then again, history has shown us even the best companies have given away movies thanks to serious lapses in judgment by the marketing team, the creative team or the studio itself. From major plot points to gigantic twists to character secret identities, pretty much every type of spoiler possible has leaked out at one point or another, and it has happened through both obvious and not so obvious ways.

So, in honor of Marvel’s (alleged) big mistake, let’s take a trip back and examine 6 different ways movies have been spoiled ahead of their release dates…

Warning: This article contains spoilers. Obviously...

With Toys, As Evidenced By The Amazing Spider-Man

Hardcore toy collectors have been on to this glitch in the system for years, but the media and casual fans have only started catching on recently. Basically, in order to sell as many toys related to event films as possible, the studio needs to ensure two things. First, kids need to be able to buy products directly related to the plot, and second, they need to be able to buy them as soon as they’re released. In order to do that properly, Hasbro or whoever needs to be given key details months in advance, and this often creates a very big problem.

Check out the image at the top of this post. Not only does it tell us a climactic showdown between Spider-Man and Lizard will take place in Oscorp’s Tower, it tells us it will involve a SWAT team being transformed into Lizards. That’s a pretty serious plot point, one director Marc Webb no doubt would have rather remained hidden from fans prior to The Amazing Spider-Man’s release date, but that didn’t happen thanks in large part to Mega Bloks and all the furious rumors the pre-release pictures of the box art created.